THERE WAS MORE TO BILL MOULTON THAN MET THE EYE

I knew Bill Moulton only as a cheerful greater at Walmart in Port Elgin and a guy about my age. We always passed the time of day, with me often and typically sharing a joke at his expense. I hadn't seen Bill at his usual greeter's stand for the past year, but often ran across him at Tim Hortons in Southampton, accompanied by his wife...He was increasingly frail and required the aid of a walker.

Bill Moulton passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of March 23rd, 2020. As is so often the case, there was a side to this man that did not meet the eye and was completely unknown to me until I read his obituary. 

Bill Moulton

The only child of Clement and Harriet (Morrow) Moulton, he grew up in Windsor, ON, attending Walkerville Collegiate Institute. Bill met his first wife, Joan, at McGill University and they had four sons. Bill’s early business career was quite itinerant with stops in Kitchener, London, Peterborough, and finally landing in Mississauga in 1967. It was with great joy that he shared a passion for sports with his entire family. Whether it was coaching his boys in hockey and baseball or his endeavours as a collegiate football referee, Bill always managed to be abreast of all things sport. An avid collector of Sports Illustrated, he eventually managed to corral the entire series and had to build a separate abode (The Bunkie) for his collection.

He was an intercollegiate referee and his association recommended that the Canadian Football League (CFL) bring him into their system for obvious reasons, but the CFL thought he was too old at the time. In actual fact, he was only in his early 30’s.

Signalling a touchdown at
University of Western Ontario

Following Missisaugan Ron Cabot’s (Toronto Blue Jay scout) lead, Bill was a major contributor in coaching and helping organize the original Mississauga Sabre junior baseball teams. Son, Jay, remembers helping Ron and and his Dad, and their fellow Mississauga Sabre baseball players groom a true baseball field at Huron Park in Erindale. “I believe that three or more players from those teams were drafted professionally. Dad was too modest to boast about any of that!”

Bill never spoke about his accomplishments. There were many. Raised on a steady diet of sports in Windsor, he was an accomplished athlete in hockey and football, played football for the McGill Redmen and was invited to the Hamilton Ticats’ training camp. Bill then developed into one of Canada’s best football officials. He set a record for most Canadian College Championship Football games officiated and was selected to the elite officiating crew for the 1978 Can-Am College Bowl game in Tampa, Florida.

Putting it all together now, I'm sure I saw Bill officiate a couple of inter-collegiate football games at the University of Western Ontario in London about 1964 or '65, along with referee friends from my days in St. Thomas -- Ben Murray and Sparky Luscombe. If only I had thought about it sooner.

Wearing his professional engineering ring with pride, he graduated as a civil engineer and began his career working for Canadian Blower and Forge, J.H. Ryder, and the Austin Company. He later moved into a variety of fields from cosmetics to automobiles, working mainly in sales and business development. His friendly demeanor suited these endeavours and resulted in a vast number of friendships maintained throughout his life.

On September 24, 1982, Bill married Beverly Ann Gaiser and the couple retired to Southampton where he engaged in the redevelopment of Chantry Island and spent many hours bringing the site back to life. An early member of the Propeller Club, he could always be counted on to head annual barbecue fund raisers. Finally finding the time to get back into sports, he enjoyed playing golf with family and friends and curling in both Southampton and Port Elgin. 

Consistently modest, Bill Moulton asked that there be no funeral upon his passing.

There but for the grace of God...!

I wish that I had made an effort to get to know him better. In retrospect, he was my kind of guy.